Amanda Jacqueline Balionis (born June 20, 1986) is an American sports journalist. She is a

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

reporter for PGA Tour golf,

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

, and

NFL football The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

. She also served as a reporter for some of '' The Match'' golfing events.

Early life and education

Balionis was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and later moved to

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

. She played volleyball for

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (Kutztown University or KU) is a public university in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher ...

for two years before transferring to

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

, where she graduated in August 2008, majoring in broadcast journalism.

Career

She started her career covering high school sports for Verizon Fios Channel 1 and

MSG Network The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by Sphere Entertainment -- a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable provid ...

s. In 2011, Balionis joined the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

as an in-house reporter and host, producing and reporting tournament highlights, shows, and events for the website. In 2016 she moved to

Callaway Golf Callaway, legally Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp., is an American global sports equipment manufacturing company that designs, manufactures, markets and sells golf equipment, more specifically golf club, clubs and golf ball, balls, also including a ...

to work as an in-house reporter producing digital content for the golf manufacture's media production team. In 2017

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

hired her as a part-time golf reporter and a year later promoted her to a full-time reporter and added college football and

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

games to her duties.

Personal life

In March 2022, she married former

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

quarterback and former

FIU Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest uni ...

quarterbacks coach

Bryn Renner Bryn Renner (born January 22, 1990) is an American football coach and former quarterback who was most recently the quarterbacks coach at FIU in 2021 and the quarterbacks coach at La Jolla High School from 2022 to 2023. He played college footbal ...

. In February 2024, golf fans noticed that Balionis was no longer wearing her wedding ring and by March 2024 Balionis had removed all references to her former married surname on her social media and television platforms. She runs a non-profit called Puppies and Golf, matching military veterans with dogs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balionis, Amanda 1985 births Living people 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women journalists College football announcers American golf commentators Hofstra University alumni Journalists from Pittsburgh NFL announcers The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication alumni American women sports commentators